Filed under: Site Matters
This concludes MANual of Style — for now. Stay tuned for information on where the MANual is headed next.
This brings us to the end of the casualwear unit.
Today we’re just going to talk about some details: the signature item and the matter of richness.
Signature Items
A signature item is an extremely noticeable item, often an accessory, that you wear often if not always—Hercule Poirot’s moustaches, my key necklace, Ianto Jones’ astonishing ties, etc. A few friends-and-acquaintances of mine have signature items (a hat in one case, a watch in another) they have had to replace over time, as the original wore out.
Signatures are a delicate balancing act between unnoticeable (most mens’ wedding bands) and cartoonish (Gilligan’s hat). I think it’s pretty cool to have a signature item, but it takes balls to do it and careful styling to pull it off well. A really good signature can be a comforting style talisman, something you’re always confident about no matter what else you’re wearing. If you want to try it out, pick something you have that’s pretty eye-catching and unusual, and try to incorporate it into your outfit for a straight week. If that feels good to you, maybe you’ve got a signature item.
Richness
The quality of fabrics is something that is sadly neglected in the education of the modern man. I think everyone should have a solid idea of what makes a fabric look rich, and mostly what makes fabrics look rich is quality. The things that make fabric look good are also good indicators of its feel and durability.
A good fabric will have a high thread count. Usually you won’t see this on the label of anything but bed linens, so to get a comparative look at some different thread counts, look at your favorite department store’s bedding section—you’ll see that, as a general tendency, higher-end sheets have higher thread counts and feel smoother against the skin. This is because thread count (the number of fibers per square inch) is constrained by the fineness of threads used to weave the fabric. A tighter weave requires finer threads, leading to a smoother-feeling fabric. Generally, if you can see the weave without bringing a fabric close to your eyes for a serious inspection, you can probably feel it too. (For sheets, the printed count isn’t an infallible metric for market reasons, but the naked-eye test is a good rule of thumb.)
Good fabrics will also have threads that are finished differently, and composed of longer single fibers. Check out Wisegeek’s discussion about combed cotton—a fabric using longer fibers will feel smoother to the touch and last longer, because the longer pieces are more securely interlaced. The smoother surface will also give it a subtle sheen.
You’ll also find that high-quality shirting fabrics are often woven in interesting ways that play with texture. One of my favorite shirts is a sort of platinum affair with alternating matte and satiny stripes—the combined textures make it look more expensive than any one of them would by itself.
What’s the point of all this? Well, good fabric is attractive because it’s touchable. It feels nice under your fingers. A good shirt can make people want to touch you (or give them an excuse). It’s as simple as that.
Today, I was planning to post a rundown of events at the con and talk about cool style I saw there, but over the weekend a nasty stomach bug laid the entire family low, myself included.
So, instead, I’m going to tell you about how to be sick without looking and feeling like shit. (Granted, there is a limit to the amount of help I can give you, because I am not a doctor and sometimes when you’re sick, you’re just sick, but I hope to offer a palliative at least.) If you’re badly off enough to need a doctor or a hospital, please disregard all this advice and proceed straight to the professionals.
Hydration
Water is the most important thing when you’re sick. If you can keep it down, staying hydrated can be the difference between hobbling around like an invalid and losing a sick day, and being well enough to face the world. Your system needs water to deliver nutrients where your body needs them and flush out wastes; if you don’t drink enough, icky things just build up in your bloodstream and make you feel sicker. On top of that, when you’re dehydrated, your skin sags and unevenness in its coloring become more visible.
If you can, drink an electrolyte-carrying sports drink or lemonade with a pinch of salt. The salt helps cut through the numbness of sick taste buds and gets essential nutrients into your system. It’s best if you have a low-sodium salt blend containing potassium, but regular salt is good too.
Grooming On the Go
Especially when you’re sick, you need to be able to touch up when you’re out and about. Be sure to carry whatever you need with you so you can do that. If you’re vomiting, you need toothpaste and lip balm, and possibly eye drops (capillaries burst by the strain of vomiting can make your eyes red). If you’ve got sinus issues, carry tissues and gum, since a stuffed-up nose can lead to bad breath. If you’re coughing, you need tissues, cough drops, and possibly a warm, soothing drink that you can either carry around or prepare easily. If you’re bleeding for any reason, carry spare bandages and antibiotic ointment if you like.
This way, you’re ready if you have a particularly bad attack of something and need to recompose yourself.
The Buddy System
Last bit of advice: If you’re ill, you should never go out alone. Be sure to have a sympathetic person at your side who can tell you to chill out if you’re pushing yourself too hard, or call for help if your condition worsens.
That’s all for today; see you again on Thursday for the last bit of Unit 2.
Filed under: Basic Concepts | Tags: closet, color, critical thinking, silhouette, style journal
There are a few different ways you might approach putting together an outfit; I thought I’d sketch some situations out for you and show the thought process behind them. Some of these processes may look like they take a while, but you’ve only got to do them once. Once you know a particular outfit works, just remember it (put it down in your style journal if you want to), and you can go to it effortlessly. Say you’re getting dressed in the morning, and you say to yourself:
I want to wear my crazy hat today!
Okay, great. The first thing you do is get your hat and put it on your bed, or couch, or hat rack or whatever. All set? Good. This object is going to act as your valet. You lay out outfits on it like it’s a paper doll and imagine yourself wearing them. It’s a lot more efficient than actually trying on everything you might consider wearing like girls do on TV, and it gives you a good visual check against your gut feelings about how two or more items work together. (After you get some practice, you can do this in your head, but even when you get to that point, it’s useful to do the valet thing every now and then.)
What you’re trying to find is a dominant garment—the biggest thing you’re wearing, probably a top—with colors and textures that work harmoniously with your hat. Harmony doesn’t have to mean that they’re identical. Contrast can work just as well; just remember what we learned earlier about color, pattern, and texture. However, in this case you’re trying to showcase a particular item, so you don’t want to contrast too strongly. Your other pieces should complement and support your star item, rather than compete with it, so the supporting pieces should be less emphatic.
Once you have that dominant garment, you’ve got your palette of colors and textures. Assemble the rest of your pieces based on the two items you have in front of you. Keep in mind, the formality of your outfit emerges from the formality of the pieces. A nice sport jacket can elevate a tee and jeans to going-out wear; similarly, a cool pair of sneakers can make it okay to go to the grocery store in a three-piece suit.
I am sad today. I shall wear black.
I’m sorry to hear that! The thing about wearing black (or any other monochromatic outfit) is that it really shows if your clothes are faded; black dyes especially are usually made up of a mixture of several colors that fade at different rates, so after you wash your favorite black shirt a few times it might become green or grey or navy. If this is the case, you have two solutions: you can either dye your clothes (a messy and laborious option), or you can wear them so they don’t touch other, differently colored “black” things, such as by wearing a light-colored belt between your black jeans and your black tux shirt.
Instead of wearing just one color, you can showcase a color by pairing one key item with neutrals. That might turn out to be a little easier. Either way, be sure that your showcased color doesn’t overwhelm your face; some colors are easier to wear in larger amounts than others. You can always experiment and see what’s the ideal amount of lime green or royal blue for you.
Man, I feel fat today.
The best thing to do when you’re not feeling super great about your appearance is to dress up, not down, and pay attention to silhouette. Start by thinking about the cut of your clothes before texture and color, and choose the clothing which best creates the way you want to look. If you’re feeling weak, go for T-shirts that cut across the widest part of the bicept to look more muscular. If you’re feeling fat, go for slim-cut items and thinner layers. If you’re feeling too skinny, wear structured items that give your frame more power and substance. Only after you’ve got the silhouette worked out should you start worrying about whether the colors go. If something doesn’t work, then swap it out for a piece of clothing which does the same (or a similar) thing for your silhouette. And for extra self-esteem boost, include one accessory or item that makes you feel really good, that you’re proud of finding, and choose today to show it off.
Putting it together
When you get good at constructing outfits in these ways, you’ll be able to tell what type of outfit an item is good for when you purchase it (“I love this color!” versus “I love this cut!” versus “This is a work of art and I want to show it off”). You’ll also be able to create outfits which do more than one of these things— monochromatic slim-cut silhouettes and outfits that show off a single color as well as an amazing item, for example.
The power was inside you all along
Honestly, if you’ve been paying attention to all of the lessons here on MANual of Style and dutifully writing in your style journal, you already have all of the tools to put together a killer outfit. This is just an overview of the things we’ve already discussed. You have the power, now use it.
Hi friends! Sorry about the late post—Elizabeth and I started our Valentine’s Day festivities a little early.
On to the meat, though. Here are a couple of pieces from Sundance, which tends to focus on women’s gear as a general rule, but occasionally has a cool piece for men in an unusual stone. If the handmade look or the cowboy aesthetic appeal to you, Sundance is for you.
See what I mean? I like the big looped clasp on this, it’s kind of a cool reference to a lasso. The thoughtful combination of metal and leather gives you a little more flexibility when pairing this with other pieces, too. Given how massive this is, however, I’d suggest wearing it with a pendant and a fancy belt, at most. Adding a lot of stuff to your hands will make them look feminine.
This is the sort of thing I really like Sundance for: bold rings with unusual stones. Since this particular stone is opaque and unfaceted, it comes off as an interesting panel of color rather than a huge piece of bling.
Here’s a piece from Novica, a site that collects interesting objects from artisans across the globe (realistically, mostly Southeast Asia, South America, and Africa). I love the contrasting textures on this ring. Since it’s not particularly large, a viewer will have to be fairly close to get its full effect; from a distance it’ll work like any other silver band.
And here’s a great houndstooth fedora on sale at Nordstrom. The yellow detail on the hat band adds a bit of levity and versatility—the added color means it’ll tie into colorful outfits more easily—and it’s got a nice narrow brim that isn’t so small as to look disproportionate.
That’s it for today! See us on Tuesday for a serious rundown on putting together an outfit. Also, Elizabeth and I will be at Dreamation next week, so come by and say hello if you’re there!
Shoes are good. If we didn’t have shoes, we’d all have to step in things all the time. It would be terrible. Respect shoes.
The most diverse category of casual shoe is the sneaker, or “trainer” for our friends across the pond. As the British term implies, sneakers originated as athletic shoes; thus they have rubber soles, and you can find sneakers designed for the performance needs and style preferences of many different activities. If you’re looking for style and comfort (rather than shopping for a specific sport), you need to know the weight and construction differences between types. Many brands specialize in one sport or another, and they often make street shoes in similar styles. A street shoe is usually labelled as a sneaker or athletic shoe, rather than “basketball shoe” and so on. The specific construction of one style of shoe might be more comfortable or flattering than another for you.
Basketball shoes are usually heavy, have thicker soles, and tend to be high-tops. I also find that they tend to be flashier and stranger than the average sneaker. They’re good if you want to look taller or anchor the eye at the ground, since they have a lot of visual mass and thick soles. They’re also good if you want to make your feet look bigger, which you might want to do if you have particularly broad shoulders and smaller feet. If you actually want to use these for exercise, they’re crappy to run in (they’re designed to support you when jumping), so save them for show or basketball.
Soccer shoes usually have cleats. Similarly-styled street shoes look like this. They tend to be low-profile shoes with thin, flexible uppers and soles; in other words they’re pretty much the stylistic opposite of basketball shoes. The flash in soccer shoes often comes from color rather than construction. I once had a pair in dark green and lime suede. Soccer-style shoes are good for deemphasizing a large foot, since they’re small and tend to be constructed of soft curved lines. I like them because they’re flexible and breathe well.
Running shoes are lightweight, low-topped, have an upturned toe and thick soles. The upturned toe visually shortens your foot, so this is another option if you want to minimize your feet. The design of running shoes tends to either be very traditional or kind of weird (shoes with new technology invariably show off that technology on their exterior somehow), but they tend to be less flashy in general than basketball shoes. They’re good if you want to be light on your feet and not draw too much attention while doing it. Running shoes also breathe well, which is important if you spend a lot of time in your shoes.
Chucks (or Cons) are named after Chuck Taylor, a basketball player who popularized the style. (Classic Chucks are high-tops, as you would expect of a basketball shoe.) They tend toward a thin upper made of canvas, with no padding at all, and the style is pretty standard, though they come in a wide variety of colors and prints. Other than this, their features remain similar to other basketball shoes. Personally, I find Chucks to be more of a liability than anything else; they have white on the vulnerable toe, where it is likely to get scuffed and stained. However, if the uppers get dirty, you can just throw them in the washer because they’re canvas.
That’s by no means an exhaustive list, but they’re the basic types that most athletic shoes relate to.
The right sneaker for you
Once you’ve got an idea of what style works best for you, it’s time to go to the store and try some shoes on. Any good shoe salesman can size you and tell you what to look for, but everyone’s feet are different, so you should definitely walk around in a new pair of shoes (just do a lap around the aisle in the shoe store) before you commit to it.
Once you take care of that you can think about color and detail. A safe way to add color to an outfit is to add brightly-colored shoes; they don’t necessarily have to relate to your outfit as long as you’re wearing neutrals or sticking to a single color. However, if you do buy brightly-colored shoes, you have to keep them clean. This goes doubly for yellow and white, which show stains the soonest, and triple for Chucks because they’re canvas, so if you don’t wash them promptly, the stains will soak in and you’ll never get them out. Regardless, it’s a good idea to have a pair of dark sneakers in neutral tones for wear when the weather is crappy.
Rather than going for one or the other extreme of color, you can also choose a subdued non-neutral that looks good on you. These are really tough to find, but I think they make a lot of impact.
Decide on the level of detail you want—contrast stitching, panels of different colors, patterned canvas, logos and other embellishments—based on how much care you want to put into your shoes and how much attention you want them to draw. More detailed shoes call for more care; since people will look at them more, you should take good care of them. Lacing is an easy, low-investment way to personalize your shoes and add or suppress detail. You can change the color of your laces for various effects, or you can lace them in different patterns for graphic or functional effect. Check out Ian’s Shoelace Site for some really in-depth discussion of shoe lacing methods, including how-tos, pros and cons of different methods, and other good stuff.
Changing your laces is an effective way of refreshing a pair of tired shoes, too. Clean them well and put in a new pair of laces, and it’s almost like having new shoes. I have one caveat, though: brand-new laces will take a while to lose their factory gloss and look integrated with your shoes, so this is a place where it might be preferable to experiment with contrasting colors.
Socks
You should always wear socks with shoes, and never wear socks with sandals. See, the purpose of socks is to keep your feet warm and absorb moisture (i.e. sweat), so your shoes don’t get stinky over time. If you leave out the sock when you’re in your sneakers, they soak up sweat and dirt and become a breeding ground for smelly things and foot infections. It isn’t pretty. On the other hand, the reason sandals are open is to allow air to move freely over your feet, which socks interfere with. Also, you’ll look like someone’s grandfather if you wear socks with your sandals.
Generally, it’s a good idea to pair light socks with light shoes and dark socks with dark shoes, even if you firmly believe that no one will see your socks. (I have this advice from my fiancée, who I consider to be a reliable authority on hosiery.) It’s presently trendy to wear exactly the minimum sock you can and still separate yourself from your shoe. I think that’s a good thing to do if you’re wearing shorts and have nice ankles, but I also find that no-show socks tend to slip out of position and become uncomfortable easily, so when in long pants I opt for slightly longer socks.
(Note that despite having their own heading, socks are not footwear in their own right.)
Sandals
Sandals are essentially a shoe sole lashed to the foot with some arrangement of straps. As distinct from flip-flops, sandals fasten to the heel or ankle in some way, so the foot and sandal move as a unit. These straps are your friends. When looking for sandals, be aware of what parts of your foot will be exposed vs. covered, and choose sandals that cover the parts of your feet you like the least. If you are embarrassed by your hairy toes, get something with a strap that covers them. If you don’t really want your foot to be visible at all, but you want the airflow and freedom from socks that sandals provide, get yourself some huaraches.
Sandals are good for hot weather and any situation where you might be taking off your shoes a lot, but it’s difficult to find one that provides the support and traction for high-stress activity. They tend to give an even more casual look than sneakers and complement already summery attire well.
Flip-flops
Flip-flops, or thong sandals, have straps that only hold the toes against the sole. They’re the most casual type of sandals, usually inexpensive, and come in a wide variety of patterns, colors, and sole treatments. Since you can see the footbeds of flip-flops all the time, they’re often decorated. They’re demanding to wear—as you step, your toes have to work to grip the bottom of the shoe and push it back into place with each motion. If you’re not used to it, walking in thongs for long periods can be painful.
With flip-flops and sandals, be aware that you’ll get tan lines on your feet.
We’ll talk about more kinds of shoes later. I’m starting to feel long-winded. See you on Thursday for casual accessories!
My name is Shreyas, and some people think I’m a douchebag.
Chances are, some people think you’re a douchebag, too. What does that word even mean? Urban Dictionary certainly doesn’t have anything useful to say about it. The best I can figure out is, “A guy who I don’t like, possibly for reasons related to his personal presentation.”
In other words, a douchebag is someone who rubs you the wrong way. (My favorite is #9, “The name of the guy dating the girl of your dreams.”) Thing is, unless you’re a total care bear, there will always be people who rub you the wrong way, and since we humans are not identical, those douchebags might not be douchebags from where someone else is sitting. We gotta be cool with that.
What I’m getting at here is that you shouldn’t let a concept as vague as “douchebag” befog your thinking. If you see some dude on the street and instantly think, “What a douchebag,” stop and think about why. Is it that champagne polo shirt you swear you’ve seen on three other guys today? Is it the way he parked his car, or that he insists on wearing flip-flops in October like he’s still on spring break? I just want you to separate “that guy pisses me off” and “that guy’s outfit bugs me” because here at MANual, I don’t really care about the first, but the second bears some thinking about.
It’s easy to dress like your friends do, and a lot of guys you see whose outfits bug you are just doing that. They might not be thinking about it, or they might be dressing that way deliberately because they’re trying to convey a message with their wardrobe. The takeaway, for you, is don’t dress like that. You shouldn’t wear clothes that piss you off. You should wear clothes that make you look and feel good.
But at the same time, I don’t think you should judge people too harshly for the way they dress.
The other thing to remember is, everyone’s a douchebag to somebody. You shouldn’t let fear of looking like a douchebag dictate your style decisions for you. I’ve caught myself thinking “That guy is a douchebag” because I saw a guy wearing an outfit I loved, but wouldn’t have the guts to wear. Douchebag can imply fear or jealousy or disgust, and as a dashing and busy man about town, you shouldn’t take the time to worry about whether someone is applying that label to you because of your clothing. Never buy the first round at the bar? Sleep with your best friend’s significant other? Cut people off in traffic? Those are reasons to be concerned about your douchebaggyness. I attend roleplaying game conventions, and have been known to run games while wearing a three-piece suit and bow tie. I’ve gotten some askance looks from LARPers dressed in space marine regalia and suits of armor, anime cosplayers dressed like sailor scouts, and steampunk enthusiasts in goggles and ascots. I don’t really care, though: wearing a suit, looking sophisticated and turning heads makes me happy.
As long as you’re following your fashion rules for clothes that flatter you and not wearing anything blatantly offensive (swastikas, “now accepting applications for a Japanese girlfriend” T-shirts), wear what you like and don’t worry about anything else.
Filed under: Casualwear | Tags: jackets, layering, leather, outerwear, silhouette
I love jackets. Living in New England, you don’t have a choice but to have a warm layer you can wear all the time, and I find that in cold places like this, you’ll find that almost everyone has a great coat—because you need to wear one so often, it’s a smart thing to invest a little extra thought and money in. (If you live in a warmer climate, put in the thought anyway, but also keep in mind that you can make good use of an item with a shorter lifespan, since you won’t be using it as hard.)
Today we’re going to talk about short jackets. The trench and long woolen coat are a little more formal, despite the best efforts of Dick Tracy and Matrix lovers to turn the trench into everyday wear.
Choosing a Color
Remember what I said earlier about outerwear: it is easier to make it work with your whole wardrobe if it’s one of your neutrals. That doesn’t necessarily mean you should never have colored jackets (In my time I’ve had red, green, sky blue…), but they require a little more thoughtfulness to integrate into an outfit. If you do choose a strong color, it must be a color that looks really good on you, not one that’s merely okay, since while you’re wearing it, it’ll be the most visible color in your outfit.
When to Wear a Casual Jacket
As a rule of thumb, I think that as you shed layers you should become less formal, not more. Ergo, don’t wear a casual jacket with your interview suit. There’s a sort of cognitive dissonance that happens if you take off a piece of clothing and start looking more dressed up, and I generally think that your casualwear shouldn’t be unsettling.
Formal jackets should never be worn indoors, but lighter casual jackets can, especially if you’re somewhere you can’t settle in, like the mall. I wouldn’t suggest that you wear a snowboard jacket to your Sociology class, but you can certainly leave your track jacket on in a café and no one will think anything of it. Anything less massive than a biggish sweater can act as an integral part of an outfit, rather than as a removable outer layer.
The Bomber
Shades of Greige Herringbone Bomber, $165
Descended from WWI pilot gear, the bomber jacket has lots of functional details: a high collar, snug cuffs, a fitted waist, and a wind flap over the zipper closure. It’s designed to keep cold air out in windy conditions. The constructed silhouette of the bomber flatters the waist, but it can be bulky, particularly since many bombers have quilted or shearling linings. Don’t put anything in the breast pockets; if you do, they’ll sag. I particularly like the flat pockets of the jacket above; you’ll find that many military-styled items have pleated or bellows pockets, which add a lot of weight.
The bomber-and-scarf look is traditional and iconic, by the way, for a good reason: it looks cool. The most traditional implementation uses a pretty hefty scarf, but it’s more modern to use something more lightweight, which will drape rather than bulk up—the softness and motion add contrast with the jacket’s structure.
The Puffy Coat
Fred Perry Quilted Jacket, $215
Puffy/quilted jackets are often quite warm, but they also tend to add a lot of volume in an overstuffed way. The jacket you see above is one of the slimmest specimens I’ve seen. Skiing and snowboarding jackets are usually of the puffy kind as well; as a matter of personal taste I don’t wear snow-sports jackets unless it’s actually the season for the sport. Since they add so much bulk and erase the contours of the body, I suggest wearing with caution unless you’re quite thin. Wear them with narrow pants to counteract the Michelin Man effect.
The Track Jacket
Oakley Faded Track Jacket, $46
Track jackets generally offer a slimming silhouette, backed up by ribbed cuffs and waist. They also have a collar that can be zipped to a stand-up position; that can add some height to your look, but if the collar is so tight it stretches when you zip it up, the folds that result from stretching it will cancel out the effect. Personally, I don’t wear my collar up unless it’s windy. Track jackets sometimes come with raglan sleeves, so if the raglan look works for you, you should go and find one. As with other sports jackets, I personally feel like it’s a little more appropriate to wear track jackets when the sport is in season, but don’t let that stop you.
I wouldn’t ordinarily accessorize a track jacket. The collar isn’t the right shape to accommodate a scarf, and it’s too lightweight to wear with gloves. You should generally zip up a track jacket whenever you’re wearing it, because the structure of the collar makes it drape in an unattractive way when it’s open.
The Leather Jacket
Diesel Lade Leather Jacket, $550
Just some notes about leather here—jackets of many styles are made from leather, from the track look here to the iconic double-breasted motorcycle jacket. Leather jackets often have metal details and linings of some delicacy, so they require extra care. Since leather shouldn’t stretch very much (it weakens the material), you should be absolutely sure you have the right size before you choose a leather jacket. Unlike fabric, a tight spot in a leather jacket won’t gradually creep into place and become more comfortable, without damaging the stitching and lining. I recommend trying jackets on until you find one that’s uncomfortably small, and then go one size up from that; don’t get a jacket that’s too big, either, because the way leather folds breaks up your silhouette and adds a lot of visual distraction you don’t want.
I prefer to wear wool gloves with leather jackets. For some people, wearing matching leather gloves works, but it’s not for me.
The Hoodie
Unconditional Zip-Off @ ASOS, £290
Since hoodies have more substance around the neck, they’re good for adding volume to your shoulders; by the same token you shouldn’t wear a hoodie with a scarf or turtleneck, because all the mass will make it look like you don’t have a neck at all. Although historically hoodies have been baggy rather than tailored, more recently designers have been introducing slimmer and more constructed silhouettes, and playful pieces like the one above (which is pretty damn cool if you ask me, but since it’s so unusual it’s a big style statement).
There are more jackets in the world, but I hope that’ll give you an idea of what you’ve got to look for and think about. Remember: wardrobe integration, silhouette, accessories. Should you ever wear it open? Collar up or down? At some point I’ll talk about layering in greater depth, too. For now, I’m signing off. See you on Saturday, when we’ll talk about what it means to be a douchebag.
Filed under: Casualwear | Tags: denim, durability, pants, silhouette, staples
Though you can wear other pants casually, today we’re just going to talk about the cornerstone of casual buttwear: jeans. Jeans are America’s greatest contribution to fashion; they’re sturdy, versatile, and expressive. They have wildly different personalities: a man who wears Wranglers would have little to say to one who wears Rag & Bone. Today we’ll talk about why some jeans are so expensive, which jeans fit your personality, and choosing the right fit, wash, and length.
About Denim
Denim is a unique fabric because of the way indigo dye works. Rather than sinking into the thread and dyeing it evenly the whole way through, indigo bonds to the thread surface. That’s what allows denim to develop the shaded patterns of fading and wear that it does—the cores of denim threads are lighter-colored than the outsides, so as the cloth is subjected to abrasion, the contact surfaces become lighter. (Most denim sold today has been made with synthetic indigo dyes that act similarly, but not identically, to the real thing. Real indigo dye has more imperfections in it, which lead to more unpredictable and interesting fade patterns.)
A lot of jean manufacturers manipulate this fading process in various ways, like the infamous acid wash of the 80s or the more recent manipulations of fading and “whiskering”—artificial crease patterns in the crotch. You can learn how to do your own artificial jean-aging on your favorite DIY website, too, but I prefer to let jeans fade and wear naturally. The color variations of jeans also come from post-dyeing processes; indigo only comes in one color (a deep, cool blue), and any other color notes come from operations that manufacturers call “washes.”
High-end jeans are generally made with selvedge denim, which means that the fabric was woven on special looms that create a tighter, stronger fabric. These shuttle looms are slower and therefore more expensive to operate than mass-production projectile looms, so the jeans are more expensive. You can identify selvedge jeans by looking at the inside of the outer leg seam; regular denim will have a cut-and-stitched edge, while selvedge denim will have a woven edge that usually has a brightly-colored stripe running along it.
Fit
There are basically two points of fit for jeans: rise and leg. “Rise” is the distance between crotch and waistline. Low-rise jeans are for hipsters with hipbones and guys with pot bellies; low-rise means they cut directly across what is typically the widest part of your frame, so they’re good to show off flat stomachs or to avoid cutting across the belly. (If you’re one of the latter cases, make sure your shirts are long enough to cover your belly when you raise your arms, because your pants won’t do the job for you.) Medium-rise is what I recommend for most people. The waistband of these jeans should sit slightly below the waist, but safely high enough to cover your buttcrack. (Low-rise jeans wrap around the hip bones; medium-rise sit on them.) The medium rise is forgiving of less-than-perfect abs without looking too uptight.
Finally, the high-rise jean, whose waistband actually reaches the waist. Who should wear these? Well, a lot of vintage-style jeans have a high rise, so if you’re going for a Man Men casual look or a sort of old-fashioned workwear effect, go for it. It’s easier to wear high-waisted jeans with a tucked-in shirt, too. (The added bulk of the shirt would otherwise conceal your waist and make you look like you have a gut.) Either way, it takes a pretty intentionally-styled outfit to make high-rises work, and you must take care not to wear jeans that go above your waist, or you’ll look like Urkel.
The leg has a lot more variables; each brand styles their legs differently. They do fall into some basic categories, though: the skinny leg, boot cut, straight leg, and wide leg.
- Skinny-leg jeans work best for slim dudes without a lot of muscle definition: the point of the skinny leg is to emphasize tall, lean lines.
- Straight-leg jeans work for most builds, and if your thighs are much larger than your calves, it can provide good camouflage. The idea with the straight leg is to emphasize height, but focus more on strong than lean. (So if you’re a skinny kid who’d rather look strong than lean, or a skinny kid who’s also a bike messenger, wear these instead of skinny jeans.)
- Boot-cut jeans are wider at the bottom than straight-leg jeans, and are usually narrowest at the knees. It creates the look of muscle definition if you don’t have much, conceals extremely large calves, and is good for people who actually wear boots. If you already have strong legs, though, you might find the thighs uncomfortably tight. (These and the skinny jeans run the greatest risk of looking like women’s jeans if worn incorrectly.)
- Wide-leg jeans are enlarged versions of the straight-leg jean. They lack any definition of silhouette, so they’re good for making a specific fashion statement (“I enjoy urban streetwear”), but not for making your butt or legs catch the eye.
When you’re shopping for jeans, you have to look at your butt in the mirror. (If you’re not comfortable doing this, bring a friend to look at your butt for you.) Jeans that fit properly will show some definition. Some styles will wrap all the way around (Wranglers are infamous for looking painted-on in this region), while ones with roomier legs will contour to the roundest part and fall from there. Either way, you can tell your pants don’t fit if either there’s a horizontal crease at your seat, which means they’re too tight (there should be enough room for you to sit down), or if you can’t find your butt, which means they’re too loose. Also check where the rear pockets are. Unless you’re looking at specialty jeans of one kind or another, the rear pockets shouldn’t reach your thighs. They go on your butt.
Okay, enough of that. What about length? Test! You shouldn’t be able to see your socks when you sit down, and you probably (again, specific styles excepted) don’t want them pooling at the ankles very much. Pooling makes you look shorter, and creates a lot of wear-and-tear on the cuffs, which will make your jeans wear out faster. Wear the same (style of) shoes to the store that you plan to wear with your jeans so you can see how they work together. The shape of your shoes and the thickness of the soles affect how your pants hang, and you’ll want slightly longer pants to wear with, say, work boots, than you would with flip-flops.
Wash & Detailing
We’ve already talked about color. Just go out and pick a wash that you like and look good in, keeping in mind that your pants go next to your shoes. There aren’t a lot of washes like this that are popular now, but ones with a lot of texture or contrast count as patterns when laying out your outfit. I’d also treat complicated hardware or embroidery (adorned rear pockets, button flys, built-in chains, whatever) as accessories. Basically, just remember that interesting details make people look at things.
If you want to preserve the original color and contrast of your jeans, wash them after every few wears. Use cold water, the delicate cycle, and turn the pants inside-out before you wash. Turning them out keeps the dyed surface from rubbing up against your other clothes too much. To create a more contrasted wear pattern, wear them longer between washes, or if you think that’s gross put them in the dryer with some tennis balls on the no-heat cycle (that’ll create a different wear pattern than actually wearing them, though). Always button your jeans before washing them; it takes stress off the fly so it doesn’t wear out as fast.
Join us on Thursday for jackets and outerwear, and on Saturday I think we’ll do a rundown of some denim brands and the way they style their jeans.
MANual of Style 